CI and Ventura County Library Announce 2013 Lecture Series at E.P. Foster Library

Camarillo, Calif., March 13, 2013 – CSU Channel Islands (CI) and the Ventura County Library are pleased to announce the 2013 CSU Channel Islands Lecture Series, a free, regular event featuring speakers from the CI faculty at the E.P. Foster Library in downtown Ventura. The series is a new initiative inviting the public to learn more about the research and work of CI professors and to engage in discussions on a variety of timely, thought-provoking and regionally relevant topics. Faculty lectures are also held monthly at the Grant R. Brimhall Library in Thousand Oaks.

“We’re excited to be able to share the fascinating work and dynamic presentations of our faculty with the public in Ventura and Thousand Oaks through our Library Lecture Series,” said Dr. Karen Carey, Associate Vice President for Academic Affairs, Arts & Sciences at CI. “We hope these lectures give members of the community the enjoyment of being a CI student for an evening in a free, convenient setting.”

"We are thrilled to partner with CSU Channel Islands for this series,” said Sara Roberts, Senior City Librarian at E.P. Foster Library. “Our community can only benefit from these educational opportunities."

All lectures will be held at 6 p.m. in the Topping Room at E.P. Foster Library, 651 East Main Street, Ventura. At the conclusion of their hour-long presentations, the speakers will engage in Q&A with the audience.

Following are currently scheduled speakers, topics, dates, times and brief bios:

"Early Farm Worker Housing on the Oxnard Plain”Monday, April 1, at 6 p.m., with Dr. Frank Barajas, Professor of U.S. HistoryDr. Barajas specializes in the history of Southern California. He has published peer-reviewed essays on agricultural labor in Ventura County, the Sleepy Lagoon Trial, the Oxnard schools, and the 2004 implementation of a civil gang injunction in the City of Oxnard. In addition to his book, Curious Unions: Mexican American Workers and Resistance in Oxnard, California, 1898-1961, Professor Barajas has published opinion essays in Amigos805, The History News Service, The Bakersfield Californian, and the Ventura County Star.

“Evolution of Surfing and the Culture Surrounding It”Wednesday, April 24, with Professor of Art Jack ReillyProfessor Jack Reilly attributes his career as an artist largely to surfing. He began surfing in the mid-1960s at the age of 14. Later, as a surf shop owner and board painter, he discovered his love for art, prompting him to leave the beach to study painting in Paris and earn his M.F.A. at Florida State University. Reilly is an internationally renowned artist, widely recognized as one of the key players in the Los Angeles art scene and the “Abstract Illusionism” movement. He has continued surfing as an important aspect of his life, while maintaining his art and teaching careers. In addition to chairing CI’s Art Program, Reilly also teaches a course called "Zen of Surfing.” Throughout Reilly’s 47 years of surfing, he has observed many cultural shifts, from the surfer as “outlaw” to the worldwide acceptance and professionalism of the sport. Reilly will also discuss how innovative technologies are involved in the production of surfing equipment, along with the extensive use of the Internet in long-range wave prediction and the observation of surf local conditions.

“Tearing the Fabric: Exploring and Predicting Elevated Vertebrate Road Kill from Ventura County to Louisiana to the Middle East”Wednesday, May 22, with Dr. Sean Anderson, Professor of Environmental Science & Resource ManagementSean Anderson is a broadly trained ecologist who has tackled environmental questions from Alaska to the South Pole. His energetic and innovative teaching efforts have garnered local and national recognition and spawned the eponymous “Sean Anderson” character (played by Josh Hutcherson) in Warner Brother’s Journey to the Center of the Earth film franchise. He will share results from his ongoing 7-year survey to document the location and diversity of road-associated mortality across coastal Southern California. The roadkill study focuses on hard-to-detect species of concern and small vertebrates, as well as enabling successful crossings and reducing vertebrate mortality events.

To learn more about the Lecture Series at the Thousand Oaks Library, visit www.toaks.org/library or call the library at 805-449-2660, option 5.

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About California State University Channel IslandsCSU Channel Islands (CI) is the only four-year, public university in Ventura County and is known for its interdisciplinary, multicultural and international perspectives, and its emphasis on experiential and service learning. CI's strong academic programs focus on business, sciences, liberal studies, teaching credentials, and innovative master's degrees. Students benefit from individual attention, up-to-date technology, and classroom instruction augmented by outstanding faculty research. CI has been designated by the U.S. Department of Education as a Hispanic-Serving Institution and is committed to serving students of all backgrounds from the region and beyond. Connect with and learn more about CI by visiting CI's Social Media.

The California State University (CSU) will reach a significant milestone of 3 million alumni during commencement in spring 2015 and has launched the world’s largest yearbook. The Class of 3 Million online yearbook is an interactive platform where alumni can create a profile and connect with the millions of other alumni from the 23 CSU campuses across the state. Alumni who sign up for the yearbook will also be entered into a special contest to win one of three $10,000 scholarships for a current or future student, sponsored by Herff Jones. For more information about the yearbook and the Class of 3 Million, visit https://classof3million.calstate.edu/